FRANCE 98 – Croatia – R. Prosinecki: “I'd like our team to make it to the quarter-finals or the Final itself”

Three questions to Robert PROSINECKI (8) midfielder in the CROATIA team (Group H) on Wednesday 24 June at the Ermitage Hotel in Vittel (Vosges):

Robert PROSINECKI midfielder in the CROATIA team (Group H):

• What kind of frame of mind are you in as you face the ARGENTINA match, and what do you think about your opponents?

“The match against ARGENTINA (match no. 48, Friday 26 June at 21h00 at the Stade Lescure, Bordeaux) is important, there’s no doubt. In spite of qualifying for the next round, nothing is in the bag yet. We have to consolidate and reward all our efforts by winning. It’s vital to stay concentrated and vigilant and give of our very best so as to win and finish top of our group. That would give us a huge boost for the next hurdle. What’s more, the match is taking place at 9 in the evening, and we’ll suffer less from the heat. As regards ARGENTINA, they’re a very strong team, and we know what we’re up against. The players belong to the best teams in the world. They, too, want to win.

• How do you see CROATIA doing in this WORLD CUP?

“I’d like our team to make it to the quarter-finals, or, let’s be honest, the Final itself. We could do really well, because we’ve got the players, I’m certain. We’ve got a good team, we’re mature, and whichever teams we meet in the next few games, we’re ready to face any of them. It’s true that modern football is faster and very different from our traditional way of playing, but we can adapt. From this point of view, I hope we’ll play ENGLAND (Group G).

• What do you think of this World Cup and the performances of all the teams taking part as a whole?

“For me, this World Cup is the best I’ve ever seen, with a very high standard. There are no “lesser” teams: they’re all dangerous. It’ll be tough to qualify for each stage of the competition from now on, and we’ll have to play with a real fighting spirit. Everyone has to be vigilant, too, especially given the refereeing problems we’ve seen over the past few days, which meant, for instance, that MOROCCO (Group A) was knocked out. But we’ve been lucky, we haven’t yet met with any problems, and so we’ll be playing our very best football.”